AI-generated summary, not yet reviewed by Better Utah staff. Please consult the bill text.

Utah's laws on establishing legal parentage would change under this bill. Currently, when a court determines someone is a child's parent, that person can be required to pay up to four years of back child support; this bill would reduce that to just one year before the parentage case was filed. The bill also sets new time limits for filing a parentage case: generally, such cases must be brought before the child turns 18, but a child born on or after May 6, 2026 would have until age 26 to bring their own case, and a child born before that date would have until age 26 or three years after May 6, 2026, whichever is later — though these limits would not prevent a birth mother and alleged father from voluntarily signing a paternity declaration after the child turns 18. Finally, the bill clarifies that questions about a presumed father's parentage (such as when a child is born during a marriage) can be raised before a divorce is filed or during divorce proceedings, subject to these same time limits.